Angling returned to something akin to normality yesterday with the lifting of the official ban. However, because the reality is that the foot-andmouth virus is present in Ireland, the Minister for Marine and Natural Resources, Mr Fahey, has introduced a series of stringent measures to replace Emergency by-law CS 275, which took effect from yesterday.
Prior to undertaking angling activities, operators of angling facilities, including sea angling, should consult with local regional boards for advice on access points and protocol.
Clubs and anglers should also seek guidance from their regional board in relation to specific areas before commencing fishing.
Under the new guidelines, angling is permitted where it does not involve access to land to which cattle, sheep, pigs, goats or deer may have had access since February 1st, 2001.
In effect, this means the recommencement of a) sea angling, b) river and lake angling from boats launched from piers, slipways, etc, and c) angling from roads, bridges and towpaths to which specified animals have not had access.
Angling activities involving entry onto agricultural land are prohibited. Thus, fishing from river banks reached through farmland is strictly out of bounds, the Minister said.
Eel fishing should not take place, competitions are to be postponed, and angling should not take place within an area declared by the Department to be a restricted zone.
Tourist anglers from the UK and other infected countries should be discouraged from travelling to Ireland at this time.
Bait consisting of organic material, such as maggots, larvae and worms, should be used only if sourced in the State and not from a restricted zone. Imported organic baits should not be used.
Mr Fahey said: "I would urge all anglers to observe the guidelines with the utmost diligence. If we all strive together, as we have done to date, I am confident we can keep this menace at bay."
Today the first a.g.m. of the Irish Pike Society takes place in Gleeson's Guesthouse and Restaurant, Market Square, Roscommon at 2 p.m. The meeting will be followed by dinner (optional), plus a talk and slide show by a guest speaker.
Twenty seven members of Howth Sea Angling Club head off to Lanzarote today on a fishing holiday. It is hoped that the group will encounter at least one tuna.
Correspondence and fishy photographs to The Irish Times, D'Olier Street, Dublin 2. Fax: 679 1881. Email: angling@irish-times.ie